Bioremediation of 27 Micropollutants by Symbiotic Microorganisms of Wetland Macrophytes

Abstract

Background: Micropollutants in bodies of water represent many challenges. We addressed these challenges by the application of constructed wetlands, which represent advanced treatment technology for the removal of micropollutants from water. However, which mechanisms specifically contribute to the removal efficiency often remains unclear. Methods: Here, we focus on the removal of 27 micropollutants by bioremediation. For this, macrophytes Phragmites australis, Iris pseudacorus and Lythrum salicaria were taken from established wetlands, and a special experimental set-up was designed. In order to better understand the impact of the rhizosphere microbiome, we determined the microbial composition using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and investigated the role of identified genera in the micropollutant removal of micropollutants. Moreover, we studied the colonization of macrophyte roots by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, which are known for their symbiotic relationship with plants. This symbiosis could result in increased removal of present micropollutants. Results: We found Iris pseudacorus to be the most successful bioremediative system, as it removed 22 compounds, including persistent ones, with more than 80% efficiency. The most abundant genera that contributed to the removal of micropollutants were Pseudomonas, Flavobacterium, Variovorax, Methylotenera, Reyranella, Amaricoccus and Hydrogenophaga. Iris pseudacorus exhibited the highest colonization rate (56%). Conclusions: Our experiments demonstrate the positive impact of rhizosphere microorganisms on the removal of micropollutants.

Multi-compartment impact of micropollutants and particularly antibiotics on bacterial communities using environmental DNA at river basin-level

“…On the other hand, antibiotic-resistant bacteria such as Exiguobacterium and Planomicrobium (Gao et al, 2012), were adversely affected by antibiotic stress in R1 and R2. In biofilms, we also observed increased abundances of bacteria known to degrade micropollutants (Brunhoferova et al, 2022; Xu et al, 2008), other organic pollutants including alkanes, pyridine, phenols, and phenanthrene (Park et al, 2020; You et al, 2023). Even though the levels found in the environment are in general below the minimum inhibitory concentration for most bacteria, they may still result in an increased selection pressure at some sites (Kristiansson et al, 2011).…”

“…In total, up to 19 genera responded to antibiotic stress, either increasing or decreasing their abundances (Figure 4). Most of these genera have been characterised as bacteria with the capacity to biodegrade organic chemicals in polluted sediments, such as ether-containing pollutants (Simon et al, 2006), pesticides (Garg et al, 2021), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Uhlik et al, 2012), and other micropollutants (Brunhoferova et al, 2022). However, not only bacteria known to be involved in the degradation of toxic chemicals were affected by antibiotic stress.…”

Biorremediação: metodologia sustentável na remoção de xenobióticos da água

“…A fim de minimizar os efeitos negativos dos xenobióticos e reduzir seu uso, organizações em todo o mundo aprovaram diretrizes e regulamentos para monitorá-los. Brunhoferova et al (2022) consideram que a presença de micropoluentes em corpos d'água representa um grande desafio pela sua difícil remoção para assegurar água potável segura. O foco do estudo foi a remoção de 27 micropoluentes por biorremediação utilizando as macrófitas Phragmites australis, Iris pseudacorus e Lythrum salicaria retiradas de zonas úmidas estabelecidas (CWs) e uma configuração experimental projetada especialmente para o estudo.…”

Effects of biodiversity on functional stability of freshwater wetlands: a systematic review

“…Microorganisms can participate in various water purification processes through a series of metabolic and interaction processes, especially some functional microorganisms play a crucial role in wetland water purification ( Wang et al, 2022 ). For example, some inter-root microorganisms such as Pseudomonas and Flavobacterium can effectively remove micropollutants ( Brunhoferova et al, 2022 ). Fusobacterium , Rhizobium and Erythrobacterium have significant removal effects on organic pollutants such as petroleum in wetlands, and their removal rates are positively correlated with the abundance of bacterial species ( Xiang et al, 2020 ).…”